Taylor Swift released her latest album The Life of a Showgirl on Oct. 3, and to say fans were let down is an understatement. Known and praised by listeners for her poetic lyrics, Swift’s 12th album lacked the eloquence and lyrical genius Swifties have become accustomed to and, as a result, Brat fall is on the rise. Disappointments aside, fans of both Swift and Charli XCX have been speculating over a feud between the artists that sparked from lyrics in Swift’s song, “Actually Romantic.” Before any hostile assumptions are made, the connection between the two artists who reside on polar opposite ends of the pop music spectrum needs to be made.
On June 7, 2024, Charli XCX released her most popular album yet: Brat. The instantly recognizable neon green album cover flooded social media, going so far as becoming a symbol for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign during the summer and fall of that same year after Charli called Harris “brat” in a post on X in July. What started some of the original discourse were the lyrics of “Sympathy is a knife,” the third track on the album. In it, Charli discusses her issues with insecurity and self-comparison to other successful women in the music industry. Starting the chorus with: “‘Cause I couldn’t even be her if I tried / I’m opposite, I’m on the other side / I feel all these feelings I can’t control,” to describe the inability to avoid social critiques and public juxtaposition. These lyrics appear to be a generalization of her struggles until the second verse, where Charli sings, “I’m so apprehensive now / Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they break up quick.”
What do these lyrics have anything to do with Swift? When she released Brat, Charli was engaged to her now husband George Daniel, the drummer of The 1975; the couple has been publicly together since 2022 and got married over this past summer. In a brief stint, Swift allegedly dated The 1975’s lead singer and guitarist Matty Healy in 2023, following her breakup with Joe Alwyn. The most reasonable answer as to who Charli is referencing in “Sympathy is a knife” is Taylor, basing this assumption off of the lyric of being backstage at her boyfriend’s shows. If both couples were dating during an overlapping period, they were bound to have seen one another during at least one performance. While the lyrics by themselves may seem backhanded, the song as a whole depicts Swift as a source of insecurity because of the magnitude of success she has achieved, not malicious jealousy. Charli also confirmed in a TikTok that the only “diss track” on Brat was “Von dutch.”
Fast forward to Swift’s release earlier this month, it’s blatant that the opening lyrics of “Actually Romantic” are calculated: “I heard you call me ‘Boring Barbie’ when the coke’s got you brave / High fived my ex and then you said you’re glad he ghosted me / Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face.” These lyrics are a little harsh to dismiss them as a joke, and Swift later explained them in an introduction to the song on Amazon Music.
“‘Actually Romantic’ is a song about realizing that someone else has kind of had a one-sided adversarial relationship with you that you didn’t know about, and all of a sudden they start doing too much,” Swift chuckles midway through, “and they start letting you know that actually you’ve been living in their head rent free and you had no idea.”
She goes on to say that this could be a manifestation on the other end of that person “resenting” her, but taking that resentment and accepting it instead as love, creating a situation that is “actually pretty romantic.” Swift’s idea of romance is hypocritical, however, as her lyrics come across as mocking: “I know you think it comes off vicious / But it’s precious, adorable / Like a toy chihuahua barking at me from a tiny purse / That’s how much it hurts.” To Charli XCX fans, these words are taken as Swift’s resentment, as if she’s degrading the person that had criticized her in the first place—who many assume is Charli.
Neither artist has made clear statements about the recent disruption between Taylor’s Swifties and Charli’s Brats, and all gossip has been entirely speculation. Regardless, the one thing that proves true within this discourse is “it’s so confusing sometimes to be a girl,” especially in the limelight of a world of social media critics.